Originally Posted by
UnfilteredDregs
How do you know what too much weight on the hands is? I found the perfect saddle for myself, extremely comfortable...However, I do have hand issues from too many years playing guitar... (carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel...) and when I come off a good ride I do experience some numbness in my hands that I know is carpal/ pressure related... and if I absorb enough road chatter I get a bit of tennis elbow as well...
It is manageable and I am wondering if it's something I just have to deal with due to my history or can I really improve my cockpit? I have been professionally fit, and I do plan to go back with more input in about another 200 miles...
But back to the question... when on the hood or in the drops, how much weight should you be supporting there?
I am still working on posture, I make sure I arch my back, elbows bent...when I go into the drops, the same, and I schooch way back on the saddle...
My suggestion is experiment with saddle setback and handlebar height. Oddly, more setback and greater distance to the handlebar and a slightly lower handlebar is many times the recipe for low hand pressure. This is very counterintuitive and goes right over the head of many amateur cyclists who ride cramped with a closer in handlebar with little saddle setback and the arms are in compression. If you move your weight more rearward and balance your body on the saddle better and move the bar away this will will take weight off your hands. Again, the opposite of what many do.
HTH.